Chef Part 2




“Miss Tiffany Hwang? The kitchen’s closed now, would you like to come in?”

Tiffany looked up from her furious typing into her iPhone 4 and saw the same, small petite girl smiling down at her. Picking up her leather bag, she hooked her arm through the handle and followed the short girl towards the kitchen.

“Do you always work till this late?” Tiffany questioned.

“On most nights, it’s much later. Probably till about 2 or 3.”

“And you’re still so cheerful?”

“It’s a blessing for me, to be able to work as something I enjoy so much. It makes getting up in the morning that much easier.”

“Why don’t you just open your own restaurant?”

“That, is a dream I’d love to accomplish within the next few years when I’ve saved enough.”

“Don’t your parents give you any money?”

“They try to, but I send it back to them. I want to be able to do this on my own.”

Tiffany stared down disbelievingly at the shorter girl walking next to her. Without her heels, she would probably be about the same height or slightly taller than Tae Yeon, but with her killer heels, she stood almost a head taller than the chef.

“Alright, here we are. Is there anything you’d like to request?”

“Surprise me.”

“Hmm….. is there anything you particularly like or dislike?” Tae Yeon asked while pacing around the empty kitchen.

“I like pink.”

Tae Yeon paused in her pacing and looked up with a raised eyebrow. Now that was something she’d never heard before when she asked for someone’s food preference. Nodding, she continued walking around the tiled floor silently, her head bowed. Tiffany sat on one of the polished metal counters and smirked nastily, glad that she had sent the girl before her into a mind battle.

“Got it.” Tae Yeon suddenly chuckled and snapped her fingers.

Sliding a pot off the hook, she filled it with water before placing it on the stove and lighting the fire. Going into the huge walk in fridge, she rummaged around for the ingredients she wanted and couldn’t resist slipping a few jellies into her apron pocket. Returning with her arms full, she dropped everything onto the countertop and began her work.

When the water started boiling, Tae Yeon turned off the stove and dropped some gelatine pieces into the water to dissolve the dry sheets. Reaching the consistency she was looking for, Tae Yeon measured out some champagne and poured it into the copious liquid, followed by some sugar and stirred the mixture. Choosing the prettiest and largest strawberry she could find, she washed it, before removing the leaves and carefully slicing it horizontally into numerous thin slices. Setting the slices aside, she returned to the pot and continued stirring until she was satisfied with the gooey texture. Next, Tae Yeon picked up a red dragon fruit and cut a wedge out. Using the juices that dripped out, she dripped a few drops of the fuchsia juice into the mixture and watched as the colourless liquid immediately turned a lovely, pale pink.

Pouring a little amount of the jelly into a cup, Tae Yeon carefully placed one slice of the strawberry into the middle of the cup, and kept repeating the process until all the slices were used up. The strawberry looked complete once again, a thin layer of pink jelly in between each slice to hold it in place and to give the effect of a whole strawberry. Satisfied with her pretty concoction, Tae Yeon filled a bowl with ice and stuck the jelly cup into the middle of it to quicken the cooling process. Placing the bowl in the fridge, Tae Yeon started washing up the pot and other utensils she had used and hung it back up. When she was done, she took a jelly out from her apron and popped it into , chewing happily while she prepared the next step. Slicing the wedge of red dragon fruit that she had cut out previously into a fan-like structure so that the bottom of the wedge held all the separate ‘blades’ together, she sat her knife down again and popped another jelly into . Looking up at Tiffany, Tae Yeon was lucky enough to witness Tiffany’s rare smile.

Tiffany had been watching the Chef work her way confidently through the kitchen, her small but capable hands cutting and slicing away effortlessly. Although she had watched her personal chef back at home cook for her countless of times, the way this chef moved in front of her captivated her. Her face, so innocent and pure, even angelic at times turned serious the moment she started her work and Tiffany could see the dedication that the person before her had for her craft. When Tae Yeon had finished her dessert and drew from the depths of her apron pocket a yellow and green jelly worm, Tiffany couldn’t help but grin at the sight.

“Would you like one?” Tae Yeon offered, holding out the packet towards her.

Tiffany looked at bag Tae Yeon was holding and shook her head. As much as she loved her food, she preferred not to gain extra calories by indulging on sweets and candies. Shrugging, Tae Yeon replaced the packet inside her pocket and a disgruntled expression replaced her features. Kneading her stomach, Tae Yeon returned to the fridge and dug around for something which she could whip up for her dinner. Although she was a chef, her meals were eaten irregularly because of the amount of time she dedicated towards her job. On some days like today, she would be so overwhelmed with cooking that the last thing on her mind would be her own dinner. It was only after the restaurant had closed for the night, would she hunt around for some food that she could eat.

“You’re eating now?” asked Tiffany when she saw Tae Yeon drizzle olive oil into the pan.

“Yup, I’ve not eaten dinner yet.”

“WHAT?!”

Tae Yeon winced and her knife slipped, causing her to almost lose her finger. It seemed to her that not only was the girl bratty, she was loud and rather obnoxious too.

“It’s almost 2 in the morning!” Tiffany lowered the magnitude of her voice a little.

“Yet you’re still shrieking your lungs out.” Tae Yeon muttered under her breath to herself and directed a careless shrug to Tiffany.

“It’s like this almost every day.”

“That’s like…… against human rights or something.” Argued Tiffany.

Tae Yeon chuckled and replied, “It’s not that the management doesn’t let me eat. I just choose to concentrate on my cooking. There’s always time for me to eat after my work is done.”

“I bet that’s why you’re so short, you’re malnourished.” Tiffany smirked.

“Hey, leave the height alone! And FYI, you’re not that much taller anyway. It’s just the heels you wear.”

The teasing continued, and Tiffany found herself opening up to Tae Yeon a little more. The chef was sweet, polite, though a little overprotective of her height which made her all the more appealing. Tae Yeon, was also starting to find Tiffany’s character a little amusing after she nearly jumped a mile when an ant crawled across the wall.

Settling on making spaghetti for herself, she threw in a few diced tomatoes into a pan and soon the kitchen was filled with the sweet and tangy smell of stewing tomatoes. Pouring out the ready pasta onto a plate, she plucked a few fresh basil leaves and tore them over the piping hot pasta. Digging a fork into the noodles, she hungrily in a mouthful and barely chewed before swallowing.

“Want some?” Tae Yeon held out a forkful of noodles for Tiffany.

Nodding, Tiffany made no move to come towards Tae Yeon, and instead opened , expecting Tae Yeon to come forward to feed her. Sighing, Tae Yeon got up from her table reluctantly and stopped in front of Tiffany, a neat little mouthful of spaghetti readily coiled around the fork. Inserting the fork into Tiffany’s mouth, she waited for the lazy bum to pull the noodles off before she pulled the fork back out.

“Like it? It’s not much, but it fills my tummy and that’s what’s important.”

Tiffany nodded, full. The flavour was wonderful, the different textures and smells exploding like fireworks in . Swallowing, she pondered for a little moment before opening and asking for more. Tae Yeon looked up from her plate, pleased that Tiffany liked what she ate, yet amused by Tiffany’s sudden transformation into the playful attitude. Scooping some spaghetti for herself first, Tae Yeon stuffed the noodles rather un-ladylike into before preparing another forkful of neatly twirled noodles for Tiffany.

“You have sauce on your cheek you dork.”

Tae Yeon glanced at Tiffany due to the unexpected nickname and sheepishly wiped the smear off with a cloth. When Tae Yeon had finished eating, though almost half of it was eaten by Tiffany, Tae Yeon hand washed everything and put them back properly. Going back to